anyone elce have crabs?

[CharlaineC]

SO who elce have our shell carrying friends the hermit crab. I have a cpl that i bought to add to my collection. their cheep and beautiful. I used to have a bunch as a kid.

 

[spydrhunter1]

We currently have 2 colonies going...about 30 crabs total.

 

[CharlaineC]

nice i'll most likely have atleast one soon. setting up a 10 gall for them. will be picking up some sand today and a small filter for the little beach front i will be building for them. Have you have any luck breading?

 

[arachnocat]

Hermit crabs are cool. They're so fun to watch. I haven't had one since I was little though. I keep seeing those moon crabs and I'm really tempted to get some but I'll have to wait till I have room for a big set up for them. It's too bad they're so hard to breed. I think hermit crabs need to breed in the ocean too but I'm not sure.

 

[Moosaka]

I have three small ones. I am looking forward to their first shell changes!

 

[stonemantis]

Here's an interesting link that could be helpful.

http://www.ehow.com/how_2053190_breed-pet-hermit-crab.html

 

[keqwow]

I had one as a kid and loved it. Haven't had one since, however I was in the Virgin Islands last summer for a wedding and I was surprised to see them walking around the forests. THAT was fricken COOL We hiked up to the top of the mountain on this one island and you'd see them along the trail all the way to the top. Some pretty darn big ones too. One was about the size of a baseball.

 

[halfwaynowhere]

am i the only person who thinks the title of this thread is hilarious?

 

[mrbonzai211]

nice i'll most likely have atleast one soon. setting up a 10 gall for them. will be picking up some sand today and a small filter for the little beach front i will be building for them. Have you have any luck breading?

It's impossible to breed them because they rely on the moon and the sea tide to decide when it's molting time. When you remove them from their natural habitat all of those elements change and their breeding cycle is cast off, plus you need a fully cycled large reef system for the babies to live and grow in.

A ten gallon is WAY too small for hermit crabs. They need at least 6 inches to burrow and molt in. Sometimes, if they're forced, they will attempt to surface molt which will give them only a 50/50 chance of survival. They need complete darkness to emit the special hormones they need to molt successfully and I've heard of crabs choosing death over attempting surface molts.

You will also need:
1 fresh dechlorinated water dish
1 sea salt water dish (both dishes changed and cleaned every 2 days)
Organic fruits, veggies, freeze dried krill or shrimp, a constant calcium source (cuttle bone works great), constant protein source to reduce molting cannibalism, nuts, fresh seafood, etc. Just make sure there are no preservatives or affative in whatever you are feeding them. Crabs are extremely sensitive to man made chemicals so natural and non-commercial foods are a must.
1 UTA heater placed on the back wall
3 shells per crab
plenty of things to climb
plenty of room to dig
constant 75 degrees
constant 75% humidity
the cheapest substrate is normal play sand. just bake it in the oven to sterilize it. after letting it cool add water until it's at sand castle consistency. be careful not to flood the tank. change substrate every month and spot clean every day.

Don't be afraid of not seeing your crabs for long periods of time. My largest crab takes four months to molt, destress, then climb back to the surface. Hermit crabs are one of the pets that should not be kept by people. The wildlife expectancy of a hermit crab is between 20-30 years, but captive HCs make it 2-4 years. Every hermit crab available in the hobby is wild caught... people on this forum can sympathize with the effect on wild caught species as heavily harvested as these guys. There's also a disease called PPS (post purchase stress disorder) where certain crabs become so stressed by human confinement that they die because of how stressed they are. In nature, hermit crabs travel several miles in search of food. Human confine limits them to a couple feet. When people ask, I normally don't recommend them as pets because of how much daily work goes into keeping these guys. I've never found a care sheer online that has everything right. I would check out the community assembled caresheets available here http://www.hermitcrabassociation.com/phpBB/index.php
The greatest minds on the HC community post on this forum. If you are serious about keeping HCs as pets, I would definitely suggest spending time learning all that you can. And trust me, when your crabs start to molt, you're going to need it.

 

[LasidoraGT]

am i the only person who thinks the title of this thread is hilarious?

no, it is hilarious!!!!!!!

 

[Eclipse]

I used to keep fiddler crabs. Thought they were such a hassle.

 

[CharlaineC]

well i wanted to get a laugh out of people and i am glad i did.

 

[Kevin_Davies]

I have 4 species of Crab at the moment, plus Aegla sp. Argentina, which are in the same family as Hermit Crabs (Anomurans) so like them arent really Crabs. I have Cardisoma armatum, Geosesarma sp "yellow eyes", Geosesarma sp. "Vampire" and Metasesarma aubryi. The two Geosesarma species can be bred with no brackish/marine water, so im hoping to breed those.

I'll be getting a species of Hermit Crab soon, Coenobita brevimanus, and hopefully a few other species of Crab.

Theres information, and a couple of pictures, of my Cardisoma armatum on my site

http://www.exoticpetsuk.com/cardisomaarmatum.htm

 

[BLS Blondi]

am i the only person who thinks the title of this thread is hilarious?

I wonder if anyone here has the species Pthirus pubis. ha ha ha